Wednesday, January 7, 2015

A great collection and worthwhile starting place for those interested in Myths and Legends of the Native Peoples of North America. Broken up into topics with the only limitation being the one imposed by history: many of these tales were written down post-European contact (often by Europeans) so you can see Christian influence. Still, it’s imperative to know these stories in the best forms available and this book surely is one of the best.

An amazing anthology for anyone who loves poetry, not simply meant as a textbook (though it works quite well for college or HS classrooms as well). So many names that were new to me and shouldn’t have been. I look forward to re-reading it many times.

Smart, funny, crazy, and fast paced. A mixture of fantasy and historical reality with a fantastic cast of characters, President Taft and all his heft at the center. I can’t even explain all the wonderful elements at work here because some things would be considered spoilers. Here’s a few early tidbits that should get you engaged enough to snag a copy of this book:

--Taft’s first appearance is in an underground boxing club. --Taft and his entourage fly around in a zeppelin that’s supposed to be top secret but he flies it to a baseball game so he can throw out the first pitch. --an automaton goes crazy in the White House--Lots of insults tossed at Thomas Edison; Nikola Tesla is one of the presidents supporters and supplies him with a variety of gadgets that gives this novel its steam-punk-isn flair.--Great time period offers up plenty of cool “I didn’t know that” facts (many footnoted). The stuff that’s fiction is, of course, most fun, but the reality of some of the politics of Taft’s presidency and the pre-WWI era are fun (JP Morgan, Russian relations, Roosevelt, and more). --Robert Todd Lincoln as the brooding sidekick to Taft is a really interesting pairing. --plenty of intrigue, and a few twists but nothing that will make you say “Oh, COME ON!”

I honestly found this book to be so much fun and so smart and funny that I want everyone to read it just so we can talk about how it could be an amazing movie.